Obesity In The Inner-City

I know first hand what it means to not have the right foods and sometimes not even having food to eat all. I have been blessed to cook for some of the biggest names in the world. While being exposed to the best of the best meats and produce. That has not always been the case my biggest concern I had to deal with was gangs, drugs and all out warfare in my community.

Part of the problem, might lie in the inner-city environment itself. Fighting obesity and living a healthy lifestyle is particularly challenging for kids who have limited recreational outlets and are constantly faced with an abundance of high-calorie, high-fat food choices. Getting outside to play isn't always an option for kids in many neighborhoods in and around the city—parents in neighborhoods troubled by crime and drugs are often afraid to let their children go out because clean and safe parks or green spaces are scarce. Many families living in inner-city neighborhoods have limited access to supermarkets and fresh food, though fast-food options are everywhere. So for many low-income kids in the city, recreation is television and video games; mealtimes mean McDonald's or 7-Eleven.

Kids who are overweight sometimes act out because they feel insecure .Once you become overweight, it's hard to lose the weight. "You don't want to move around, or go out of your house because you're uncomfortable, which means you don't get any exercise. And if you do leave the house, people may start looking at you, laughing."

Even though health professionals readily acknowledge that obesity is increasing among children—especially low-income children—very few government resources are expended to track, treat, and prevent the disease.

Let's put one of our government leaders in the inner city for one year and let them see firsthand in order to prevent the disease of Obesity, we must first address the crime and drugs. Like my man Ice Cube said in The Boys In The Hood "ETHIER THEY DON'T KNOW-DON'T SHOW OR DON'T CARE ABOUT WHATS GOING ON IN THE HOOD".